Firmino Joins Saudi Club Al-Ahli After Liverpool Exit

FILE -Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League Group A soccer match between Rangers and Liverpool at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Roberto Firmino signed for Al-Ahli on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 to become the latest star to head to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative Pro League. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
FILE -Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League Group A soccer match between Rangers and Liverpool at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Roberto Firmino signed for Al-Ahli on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 to become the latest star to head to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative Pro League. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
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Firmino Joins Saudi Club Al-Ahli After Liverpool Exit

FILE -Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League Group A soccer match between Rangers and Liverpool at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Roberto Firmino signed for Al-Ahli on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 to become the latest star to head to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative Pro League. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
FILE -Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League Group A soccer match between Rangers and Liverpool at Ibrox stadium in Glasgow, Scotland, Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022. Roberto Firmino signed for Al-Ahli on Tuesday, July 4, 2023 to become the latest star to head to Saudi Arabia’s lucrative Pro League. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)

Brazilian forward Roberto Firmino became the latest high-profile player to complete a move to Saudi Arabia, signing for Al-Ahli on Tuesday after his contract with Premier League giants Liverpool expired.

The 31-year-old left Liverpool after eight seasons at Anfield, during which time he scored 111 goals in 362 appearances and won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup, AFP reported.

His arrival at Al-Ahli was revealed by the club in a video posted to social media and comes less than a week after the team concluded a deal to sign Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy from Chelsea.

Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard took over as coach at Al-Ettifaq earlier in the week, while Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante have also made the move to Saudi Arabia since Cristiano Ronaldo's switch to Al-Nassr in January.



Salah Double Sends Liverpool 8 Points Clear in Premier League as United Draws First Game with Amorim

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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Salah Double Sends Liverpool 8 Points Clear in Premier League as United Draws First Game with Amorim

 Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah leaves the pitch after the English Premier League soccer match between Southampton and Liverpool in Southampton, England, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

It has been more than 30 years since a team held as big a lead as Liverpool after 12 rounds of the Premier League.

Not that Arne Slot is getting too excited about an eight-point advantage before even hitting December.

“It’s nice to have this position,” the Liverpool manager said Sunday after Mohamed Salah inspired a 3-2 come-from-behind win at Southampton, “but we are definitely not getting carried away.”

Only Manchester United's class of 1993-94 — under Alex Ferguson — has had a larger lead than Slot's Liverpool at this stage of a Premier League campaign. The title stayed at Old Trafford that season.

It's those kind of glory days that Ruben Amorim is trying to recreate after taking charge of United and the Portuguese coach could hardly have got off to a better start.

Only 81 seconds had elapsed before United marked Amorim's first game at the helm with a goal from Marcus Rashford at Ipswich.

United couldn't hold out and a 1-1 draw against a team destined to be battling against relegation underlined the scale of Amorim's task to turn around the fortunes of a fallen giant in English soccer.